Sweet cafe in Lakewood Dallas busts out special new vegan offering

Sweet cafe in Lakewood Dallas busts out special new vegan offering

A small, quirky cafe that opened in Dallas' Lakewood neighborhood in early 2018 is busting out an event themed with the hottest trend in 2018: vegan food.

The Creek Cafe opened quietly in January in the center of Lakewood, in the space at 6334 Gaston Ave. that was previously Philly Connection. CEO Daisuke Mori is a native of Japan, and Kaori Koji is the COO and chef. They've been open for breakfast and lunch with a small menu of panini and pastries.

Manager Mark Maxey says they're doing a unique Western style of Japanese food that's very hot in Tokyo right now — dishes such as extra-thin Japanese omelets; and shibuya honey toast, a very trendy over-the-top architectural dessert in which a thick cube of fluffy white bread is hollowed out and stuffed with honey, fruit, and ice cream.

But it was always chef Koji's intent to add vegan dishes, and so the restaurant will make a splashy introduction with a two-night omakase event on June 29-30.

Maxey says it will begin with a chilled edamame soup made with soy milk, with a texture that's rich and creamy.

A second course consists of pickles. "Kaori wanted to do Japanese-style pickles but using Texas vegetables," Maxey says. "So it'll have cucumber, okra, asparagus."

The third course will be inori — aka fried tofu skin — with vegetables. "Fried tofu skin is sometimes used in a sushi item called inori sushi, but this dish has no rice," Maxey says. "It's like a snack."

Other courses will include mushroom with pesto, like a Japanese take on an Italian dish; doria, another Japanese-Italian dish consisting of rice gratin with béchamel and cheese; and tofu salisbury. Dessert will be strawberry mousse made with white chia seeds.

The omakase event will take place over two nights, June 29 and 30, and is only $25 per person, with BYOB. Reservations begin at 5 pm, and are required; click here. There's more info on a Facebook page, and the promise that this will lead to something more permanent, both in terms of vegan dishes on the menu as well as dinner hours in the future.

"Kaori has been in Japan researching vegan food," Maxey says. "The reason she did it is because she wants the café to be a place for everyone."